Combined door spring and check



No. 6||,285. Patented Sept. 27, |898. A. & Ci SCHE'IDj COMBINED DOOR SPRING AND CHECK.

(Application filed Oct. 30, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet l.

(NU Model.)

|NVENTORS: ADAM @CHEM AND @AHL 5CH-IUD WITNESSES BY @MAC @www ATTORNEY THE mms PETERS cu, PHovovLlTNo., wAsj-umoon, u. c.

Patented Spt. 2 7, |898.

A. & C. SCHE|D.

COMBINED DOOR SPRING AND CHECK.

(Application filed Oct. 30, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Mdel.)

5 mm. Fn

WITNESSESI 'INVENTORS AQAM @Qa-aga@ M@ @AHL ssa-55u99 BY @41C JMU/W571i,

ATTORN EY No.6IL285. Patmed Sept 27,|898. A;&.C.SCHEID.

COMBINED DOOR SPRINGLAND CHECK.

(Application filed Oct. 30, 1897.) l (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

c n@ a@ HQ., HH WITNESSES:

INVENTORS AAM ssn-aga AM@ @ABL ssamm wie? MWK ATTORNEY Nrrnn STATES ADAM SCHEID AND CARL SOHEID, OF HARRISON, NEV JERSEY.

COMBINED DOOR SPRING AND CHECK...

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,285, dated September 27, 1898.

Application filed October 30,1897.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ADAM SCHEID and CARL SCHEID, citizens of the United States, residing at Harrison, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Oombined Door Spring and Check; and we do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention has reference to a novel form of combined door spring and check in which the opened door is closed partially by the action of a spring and after the door is nearly closed the tension of the spring is at first opposed to the action of the air which is compressed in front of the piston to act as a check to the closing of the door and prevent the slamming or noisy closing of the same, and then the compressed air is conducted back of the piston to remove the resistance from in front of a. spring-actuated piston to permit the spring to securely effect the noiseless closure of the door.

The primary object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a combined door spring and check acting in the manner just stated, Afirst, to partially and rapidly close the door by the action of a spring against an air-cushion in the front end of the cylinder, thus by the compression of the air in front of the piston serving as a door-check, and, finally, to remove the resistance of the air from in front of the piston by allowing it to escape to the rear thereof to permit the final closing movement of the spring. i

Other objects of this invention are to provide a novel adjustingmeans whereby the tension of the spring for closing the door can be increased or decreased at will, to provide a novel means for operatively attaching the spring to its holding-spindle, to provide an improved means for attaching the cylinder of the device to the door, and to provide an improved means of connection and novel construction of lever and crank-arms for operatively connecting the parts of the device which Serial No. 656,879. (No model.)

are attached to the door to the bracket secured on the door-frame.

Other objects of this invention not here specifically set forth will be fully described in the accompanying specification.

Finally, the principal object of this invention is to provide a combined door-spring and door-check4 of the character and for the purposes hereinabove specified the several parts of which shall be of a simple and durable construction and shall be effective in their operations.

With these several ends in view the invention consists in the novel door-check herein set forth and in the several arrangements and combinations of parts as well as in the details of the construction thereof, all of which will be fully described in the accompanying specification and finally embodied in the clauses of the claim.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top view of the combined door spring and check embodying the principles of our invention, and Fig. 2 is a front or face View of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3 3 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4t is a horizontal section taken on line 4 4 in the same figure. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 5 5 in said Fig. 2,'illustrating the general arrangement of the movable parts of the device in their normal and inoperative positions when the door is closed. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the device, the movable parts being represented in elevation and in their respective positions when the door is partly opened;

and Fig. 7 is a similar view'of the parts illustrated in said Fig. 6, representing the movable parts of the device in their fully-operated positions when theL door has been entirely opened. Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a spindle connected with `the device. Fig. 9 is a face view of a piston of a slightly-modiyfied form of construction; andFigs.- l0 and 1l arel horizontal and vertical sections taken on lines 10 10 and 11 11, respectively, in said Fig. 9. Fig. 12 is a detail section of that part of the operating-lever attached to the operating-spindle, said section being taken on line l2 l2 in Fig. 2. Fig. 13 is a side view of the IOO ICI

`from the cylinder a.

adjustable connecting-arm connected with the door-frame and operating-lever; and Fig. 14 is a vertical cross'section of the same,taken on line 11 14 in said Fie. 13. Fig. 15 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the air-cylinder, illustrating the same provided in the end with a screw cover or head.

Similar letters of reference are employed in all of the above-described views to indicate corresponding parts.

In said drawings, Aindicates the complete door-spring and door-check, combining a spring and shaft chamber consisting of a vertical cylinder a and an air and piston chamber consisting of a horizontal cylinder a', having a reduced portion or barrel a2 and opening into and extending on either side of said vertical cylinder. Said reduced portion or barrel a2 forms a suitable guide, the purpose of which will behereinafter more fully set forth. Said barrel a2 is closed at its free end in any suitable manner, preferably by means of a cap b, substantially as illustrated. The open end of said cylinder a is closed by means of a cover or cap c, which is secured to said open end of said cylinder by means of screws c', as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, or said cap c can be screwed into the screw-threaded end portion of the cylinder a, as clearly indicated in Fig. 15. Said cap or cover c, as will be seen from Figs. 5, (i, and 7, is preferably provided with an enlargement c2, having a recess 03, which extends into the forward end of the said cylinder a'. Directly opposite said recess c3 is an enlargement or boss c4, having a screw-threaded hole c5 in communication with said recess c3 for the recept-ion of a suitable screw c6, having a groove or grooves 0"", whereby when said screw is screwed in or out by means of a suitable finger-piece o8 and a suitable lock-nut or diskc" on said screw the hole or opening ci can be made large or small to regulate the size of the air-duct for the admission or emission of the air into or Said cylinder a and the barrel a2 are provided with suitable lugs or ears a3 and a4, having slotted openings a5, whereby the complete device can be slipped over the heads of the previouslyattached screws in the door, and thereby secured in place with greater ease than when the ears or lugs a3 and at are provided with the usual forms of screw-receiving holes.

The vertical cylinder a is provided at the bottom with a perforated hub a, to which may be detachably secured, b v means of a setscrew d', a cap d, substantially as illustrated in Fig. 3. Rotatively arranged in said tubular hub a and in the tubular portion d2 of the cap CZ is a spindle c, having an enlargement e', forming a shoulder for operatively arranging said spindle on the inner surface a7, surrounding the hole in said hub a6. Said spindle is provided with a plain cylindrical sector e2, and directly opposite said sector e2 is a second sector e3, having the spur-teeth e4, usually tive in number, substantially as illustrated. The end teeth of the sector e3 are connected with the respective ends of the sector c2 by the arcshaped portions e5 and e, substantially of the curvatures illustrated in said Figs. 5, G, and 7. Directly above said sectors e2 and e3 and on the portion cT of the spindle e the latter is provided with one or more holding lugs or ribs es, in engagement with any one of which can be placedl the bent or hook-shaped end g' of a stiff spiral spring g. Said spring encircles the said portion e7 ot' the spindle e and has its outer end g2 made in the manner of a hook, whereby said hook en d f 2 of the spring can be operatively arranged in a slotted part f of an annular projection forming a shoulder f2 on a cap or cover f, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4:. Said shoulder f2 of the cap fts into the opening in the top of the vertical cylinder a, the annular rim of said cap f resting upon the annular edge of said cylinder and being secured in place by means of a set-screw j, the inner end of which can be brought into holding engagernent with one ot' a number of depressions f3 in said shoulder f2, as will be clearly seen from an inspection of said Fig. 2. Upon the outer face of said cap f is a nut portion f4 and a hubf, both of which, with the main portion of said cap f, are provided with a hole or open ing, in which is arranged the upper portion of the spindle e, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. To properly regulate the tension of the spring g, an ordinary wrench is placed over the nut portion f" of the cover f and the set-screw j sufiiciently loosened. By operating the wrench the coverf can be turned and the spring g tightened upon the spindle e, as will be understood, and when sufficiently adjusted then the inner end of the set-screwj is again screwed into one of said depressions f3 in the shoulder f2 of said cover f, whereby the parts will thus be held in their adjusted positions. Capable of sliding longitudinally in said horizontal air-cylinder a is a piston h, having a rearwardly and upwardly extending rod t., which is bent or formed in a peculiar manner and has the curved surfaces h2 and 7b3. Said rod h is provided at its rearwardly and upwardly extending part with a rack portion h4, having the teeth h5, and a cylindrical end portion It, as clearly illustrated in the several figures of the drawings. Said teeth h5 are normally in operative mesh with the teeth of the sector e3 on the spindle e, and when the latter is operated the `said toothed sector will force the cylindrical end portion It of the rack into the barrel or cylinder a2, hereinabove mentioned, said barrel or cylinder acting as a guide to prevent the jamming and consequent inoperativeness of the moving parts of the device. As will be seen from Fig. 5, the diameter of said piston 7L is smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder a', and secured against the face of said piston by means of a nut la7 and a disk or plate hs on the screw portion 7L is a cup-shaped ilexible disk 7c, the annular and bent edge of which is in frictional sliding engagement IOO IIO

with the inner surface of the cylinder a', as

clearly illustrated. To permit the compressed air in said cylinder a between the front of said piston h and the back of the cap or cover c to pass back of the piston when the door is nearly closed and to remove the resistance of the air from in front of said piston, said cylinder is provided in a suitable part of its surrounding wall with a duct as and the openings a9 and d10 for establishing a communication between said duct and the inner part of the cylinder a. The opening a9 is formed by drilling from the outside of the cylinder a into the duct d8 and through into the inner portion of said cylinder, after which that portion of the hole a9 between the duct and the outer surface of the cylinder is closed by a suitable plug an.

In lieu of a solid piston ZL and solid disk Zt we may dispense withv the larger disk or plate hs, hereinabove mentioned, and a small washer h1 on the screw portion ZL9 may be employed and the piston provided with holes or perforations Zin and the flexible disk with holes or perforations 7e'. The positions of the holes in the piston and said disk k alternate, as clearly indicated in Figs. 9, 10, and 1l, whereby while the door is being opened the air in said cylinder d' at the back of the piston will pass through the holes hn and between the slightly-distorted iiexible disk 7c and through the holes Zt' therein; but onthe return stroke while the door is being closed then said flexible disk Zo will be firmly forced against the face of the piston h, with its annular edge in close contact with the inner surface of the cylinder CZ. Thus the holes 71, in the piston will become closed and no air can pass from in front of the piston to the back thereof, whereby a perfect air-check is the result.

To operate the spindle e and the parts connected therewith when attached to a door, the upper end of said spindle has a recess e9, in which is arranged a suitable projection 7l', formed in the split eye t2 of an actuating-lever t'. Said split eye has a pair of lugs 2'3 and a screw Z4, whereby said lever t' can be securely and operatively connected with the said spindle e. Pivotally attached to the forward end of said lever t' on a stud or pivot is a connecting-rod Z, which is adjustably connected with a second connecting-rod Z', said rod being pivoted, by means of a pin m', to a bracket m, secured to the door-frame, as will be understood from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2. As will be more especially seen 'from Figs. 13 and 14, said arm Z slides between a pair of guides Z2 on the arm Z', said arm Z/ also having a longitudinally-arranged opening Z3, bounded by the corrugated sides ZA1 and Z5. Said arm Zis provided with a screwthreaded socket Z6, into which is screwed a bolt Z7, which extends through said opening Z3 in the arm Z and has a head above said arm for locking a plate ZS, provided with the corrugations Z9, directly to the corrugated parts ofthe said rod or arm Z', whereby the two i `arms Z and Z can be securely locked or connected in their properly-adj usted positions.

The operation of the several parts of the hereinabove-described combined door spring and check is as follows: The combined cylinders a, a', and a2 are securely fastened to the door and the bracket m to the door-frame, with the actuating-lever t' properly attached to the spindle e and the connecting-rods Zand Z in their operative and properly-adjusted positions. As soon as the door is being opened the spindle c is rotated in its proper bearing portions in the vertical cylinder a, whereby the spring g is lightly wound upon said spindle e, and the spur-teeth on the sector e3 will cause the piston Zz and its several parts to move from their normally inoperative positions indicated in Fig. 5 to the positions represented in Fig. 6, and the edge between the sector portion e2 and the are e5 will come in contact with a portion of the curved part h2, as clearly indicated in said Fig. G. This action of these parts will still cause the piston- ZL and 'its parts to move for a short distance in a forward direction until the piston and its parts have assumed the positions indicated in Fig. 7, in which positions these parts will remain inactive. By this time the door has been but partly opened, and while being continued to be opened the spindle e, its spring g, and the sectors e2 and e3 will finally take the positions represented in said Fig. 7. The movements of the lever and connecting-rods Zand Z will be understood. Vhen the person has entered and the door is released, the tension of the spring g causes the door to close very rapidly until the sector-teeth engage with the curved part 71.3 and the teeth on the rack portion of the rod connected with the pistou Zi are again brought into operative mesh. The piston is thus rapidly returned to the forward end portion of the cylinder ct, whereby the air in front of the piston is greatly compressed and the closing movement of the several parts of the device and that of the door is suddenly checked, while some of the air escapes through the grooved screw or bolt in the head c of said cylinder. As soon as the piston has again reached the position near the inner surface of said head c the remaining air will rush through the duct a8 and out of the opening a9, now back of the piston, to the other side of the surrounding edge of the flexible disk It, connected with said piston Zt, thereby removing all resistance to the iinal closing action of the spring g, whereby the door will receive a slightly-faster closing motion and will finally be closed without any undue noise or slamming.

From an inspection of the several figures of the drawings it will be seen that the cap CZ can be detached from the hub a and placed on thehub f 5 ofthe cap f, the lever z' having been previously disconnected from said hub f5, whereby by simply reversing the entire `casing without disturbing the working parts IOO IIO

therein said lever can now be attached to the end of the spindle e projecting from said hub a6. Thus it will be evident that the same device can be used in connection with any door no matter whether it opens to the right or to the left.

The outer surfaces of the several cylinders of the device may be suitably ornamented.

By means of our novel construction of combined door spring and check we have devised a simple and operative device for effectively closing a door without slamming and one which enables the door to be opened easily without the necessity of drawing the piston against a body of air, the spring on the spindle e being the power for automatically closing the door and the compressed air in front of the piston on the return of the several parts to their initial positions acting simply to overcome the rapidly-closing movement of the door.

Of course it will be evident that many changes may be made in the several arrangements and combinations of the parts and the details of the construction thereof Without departing from the scope of our invention, and hence we do not limit ourselves to the exact arrangements and combinations of the parts nor to the details of the construction thereof as described in the accompanying specication and as illustrated in the drawings forming a part thereof.

Having thus described our invention,what we claim isl. A combined door spring and check, comprising a vertical cylinder forming a spring and shaft chamber and a horizontal air and piston chamber consisting of a horizontal cylinder having a reduced cylind rical portion and extending on either side of said vertical cylinder, the central longitudinal axes of the main part of said horizontal cylinder' and the said reduced part being in different but parallel planes both to one side of the central vertical axis of said vertical cylinder, a ro tatively-arran ged spindle in said vertical cylinder, a spiral spring on said spindle, mechanism connected with said spindle for actuating the same and its spring, a toothed sector on said spindle, a piston and piston-rod in the main portion of said horizontal cylinder, a rearwardly and upwardly extending rod connected with said piston, and a toothed rack at the free end of the bent part of said rod fitting and sliding in the reduced portion of said horizontal cylinder, the teeth of said rack being in intermittent mesh with the teeth of said sector, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A combined door spring and check, comprising a vertical cylinder forming a spring and shaft chamber and a horizontal air and piston chamber consisting of a horizontal cylinder having a reduced cylindrical portion and extending on either side of said vertical cylinder, the central longitudinal axes of the main part of said horizontal cylinder and the said red need part being in different but parallel planes both to one side of the central vertical axis of said vertical cylinder, a rotati Vely-arranged spindle in said vertical cylinder, a spiral spring on said spindle, mechanism connected with said spindle for actuating the same and its spring, atoothed sector on said spindle, a piston and piston-rod in the main portion of said horizontal cylinder, a rearwardly and upwardly extending rod connected with said piston, and a toothed rack at the free end of the bent part of said rod fitting and sliding in the reduced portion of said horizontal cylinder, said piston-rod having curved portions 71.2 and 77,3, and said sector having curved parts e5 and e, all arranged to intermittently cause the active engagement and disengagement of said toothed rack with said toothed sector, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. A combined door spring and check, comprising a cylinder having bearing portions, and a rotatively-arranged spindle therein, a spiral spring on said spindle, mechanism connected with said spindle for actuating the same and its spring, a toothed sector on said spindle, an air-cylinder connected with said spindlecarrying cylinder, a piston and piston-rod in said cylinder, a toothed rack connected with said piston, said piston-rod having curved portions h2 and h3 on said pistonrod, a sector portion c2 on said spindle having curved parts e5 and e, all arranged to intermittently cause the active engagement and the disengagement of said toothed rack with said toothed sector, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

A. In combination, with an air-cylinder, a piston h having perforations 7L, and a ilexible disk 7i; thereon having holes k', said holes being alternately spaced with respect to said piston and the disk k, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that we claim the invention set forth above we have hereunto set our hands this 27th day of October, 1897.

ADAM SCHEID.

CARL SCHEID. Witnesses:

FREDK. C. FRAENTznL, Wn. H. CAMFIELD, Jr.

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